Groupies
by mish184
Summary: The College Years: Nathan heads home after a roadtrip


**FYI- I'm not Mark Schwann. **

Nathan was an hour into his bus ride back to school. He and his teammates had just played a 4 day long road trip. Now, it was Saturday night and they were all on their way back to campus. They should be in around midnigh and they were all planning to attend a college party, after all it was Saturday night. Of course, they were all "big" men on campus because they were on the basketball team and their attendance along the social circuit was always in high demand. Tonight of all nights, they also were entitled to celebrate. They won the game against their rivals, the Falcons.

As the guys were finalizing their plans, Nathan couldn't help but look at his watch, 11:03pm. He still had about an hour before they'd even pull into the parking lot of their campus. By the time he made it to his car and back to the apartment he shared with Haley and Jamie, it would be nearly 1am.

"Hey Nate Dog, you coming to celebrate with us tonight? Or do you have a curfew tonight?" chuckled one of his teammates.

"Very funny. You're just jealous because I have a girl." Nathan snapped back while putting his headphones on.

It wasn't that he was trying to get home because Haley didn't want him to go out and celebrate. In fact, when he called her before the game, she told him she wouldn't be waiting up. She had had a full day between work, Jamie and life. The older Jamie grew, the harder it became to keep up with the ever growing toddler. Nathan wasn't sure what he should do. On one hand he just really wanted to go home and fall asleep next to Haley. Let's face it, the last couple of nights were restless since Haley was not laying next to him. He hadn't had a good night's sleep since he left her a few days ago. Then there was Jamie. Just seeing Jamie, even if he was asleep in his crib made him feel complete. On the other hand, they had a reason to celebrate. They fought for the win until the very end and Nathan wanted to help his teammates celebrate….just not in a crazy, noisy, drunken party where all his buddies were acting like free agents- with the ladies that is. So what was he to do?

"So hot shot, you bringing your pearly whites to the par-tay or what?" his teammate Nick asked.

"I helped you guys win, so I'm going to help you celebrate." Nathan replied.

"That's what we like to hear!" Aaron his other teammate said back.

The bus pulled into the parking lot shortly before midnight. The guys all pumped with energy bounced off the bus and Nathan threw his stuff into his car.

"I'll meet you guys there." Nathan yelled.

"Oh, no, no, no. You're riding with us." One of the guys said.

"Guys, I don't want to leave my car here. I probably won't want to stay that late." Nathan said sincerely.

"And to think, we thought you were about to bring you're A-Game? Come on, Nate don't bring your getaway car. Enjoy a night out with the boys." Nick said.

Nathan really didn't like the idea of having no form of transportation. He knew exactly what was going to happen. The guys would be having fun together for about the first hour and then they'd go off with their "groupies" as usual.

"Guys, I'm driving. You know I don't want any of you driving me home when I want to leave." Nathan said.

The guys agreed. They would feel obligated to drive Nathan home and if they were drinking heavily they wouldn't be able to. With everyone in agreement, some of the guys jumped into Nathan's car and they drove to the party. Nathan's first instinct was to text Haley about not going straight home, but then again, he didn't want to wake her. He was hoping to only make an "appearance" at any rate. Truth be told, he was exhausted and snuggling next to Haley was all he really wanted.

Back at the apartment Haley looked at clock on her beside, 12:23am. Nathan had texted Haley after the game and said they were boarding the bus soon. Haley had mentioned she was exhausted and she'd talk to him later, which probably meant if she felt him come home. Nathan said he loved her and that was the end of that. The truth was Haley was exhausted. She had put Jamie to bed around 8:30pm and then she cleaned up the apartment in which she shared with her two favorite boys. This was the first time it was just the three of them. They had always lived with Nathan's mom or Lucas. Now, since Nathan got a chance to play in division one, they moved on their own. Just the three of them. After she cleaned up and got ready for bed, she crashed but then woke up around 11:30pm to faint cries of Jamie. She went to go and check on their son and after some more fussing, Haley decided to pick up the toddler and bring him into her and Nathan's bed. She did this because for one, the bed was way too empty without a certain 6'2" tall and handsome male and two, that male would be home shortly. Now it was almost an hour later and Jamie had drifted off to sleep. Haley was trying really hard to wait up for Nathan. She just couldn't wait to see him and fall asleep comfortably in his arms.

"Should I text him?" she whispered to Jamie….knowing full well he couldn't and wouldn't respond.

"No, no. Just leave him alone, if he's driving I don't want to distract him." Haley added.

"I guess I'll just snuggle with you until daddy gets home." Haley told Jamie.

So that's exactly what she did and drifted off to sleep.

Loud music, booze for days and bodies everywhere. That was the scene at the party the guys and Nathan ended up going to. Nathan was enjoying socializing with the guys, but he had enjoyed the last 4 days he had just spent with them too. In the hotels, the locker rooms, the court, the LONG bus rides. He looked at his watch, 2:30am. That was it, he was ready to call it a night. He stayed way longer than he had intended and had switched to water about an hour ago. The wilder the party got, the less fun Nathan began to have. He said bye to some of the guys and headed out. All he could think of as he made his way to his car was how glad he was that that was a part of daily life. Suddenly Nathan had a flash of what life would have been like if he hadn't met Haley when he did and it gave him chills. Nathan got in his car and before he knew it he was home.

2:50am the clock read on the dresser next to Nathan and Haley's bed. His heart stopped when he walked into their bedroom. There was Haley lying in bed with the moonlight shining on her face so perfectly. Nustled next to her was their perfect son, Jamie. Haley instinctly had her arms around the young boy and Nathan couldn't believe how happy he was to be home and that that was his wife and his son.

Nathan began to change into something more comfortable and then slowly made his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth and face. When he walked back out he gently climbed into bed and Haley began to stir in her sleep.

"Nathan?" Haley whispered gently.

"Sorry, I was trying not to wake you." Nathan said apologetically.

"No, no I was trying to wait up for you….oh it's almost 3am. Ok, so that was so 2 hours ago." Haley said. "Where were you?"

"Oh, Hales, I thought you said you weren't waiting up. I went to celebrate the win with the guys and I didn't want to text you and wake you up. If I would have known…." Nathan began and got cut off.

"No, it's fine. Which frat party was it this time?" Haley whispered with her eyes closed.

"It wasn't a frat house. It was at Parker's house that he shares with four other guys." Nathan explained.

"I hate to break it to you, but that's a frat house." Haley said.

Nathan laughed. "I honestly didn't want to go, I just wanted to come home. I wanted this."

"Me too. I've missed you." Haley said. "What do you say you put Jamie in his crib so I can cuddle with you instead?"

"Sounds perfect. Come on boy." Nathan said as he carefully picked up Jamie.

After Nathan put Jamie in his room he got back in bed and snuggled in with Haley.

"So did all of your "groupies" show up to this party?" Haley asked teasingly.

"Actually no, they didn't." Nathan said as he grabbed Haley's hand. "My biggest fans were right here."

"We do love you, you know that?" Haley said as she kissed Nathan.

"And I love both of you." Nathan said sincerely.

With that they both fell into a deep sleep in each other's arms.

Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
